


The Princess' Dishonor

by KirbyPaint



Series: Tales of Eldrigar [3]
Category: Pathfinder (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: F/F, Homophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-05
Packaged: 2018-04-30 04:00:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5149517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KirbyPaint/pseuds/KirbyPaint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why Yuki had to leave (read: was banished) from her homeland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Princess' Dishonor

**Author's Note:**

> ok this one has some pretty harsh stuff so... read at yo own risk

From outward appearances, it was a normal day. No one would have guessed that Dragon Princess Yuki had just been banned from the kingdom for crimes too terrible to mention in polite company.

 

It was quite the ordeal. She hadn’t gone without a fight though. Not that she would lay a hand on her parents – no, she cared about them too much. But when they were throwing vases and plates and other valuable household items, Yuki had no choice but to defend herself.

 

Very few were privy to the actual events, but the rumor mill churned out such gems from “The Princess was pregnant with a demon baby,” to “The Princess was really a Prince” to “Yuki had sold the family’s palace and now everyone was gonna be poor forever.”

 

Of course all of these were arguably worse than the actual reason, but only four people in the world knew that reason.

 

Yuki had been caught in a… _compromising_ … position, with her math tutor and best friend, Sami. Now, relationships between two people, no matter the gender, weren’t such a big deal in Ryu-Teikoku, so long as they were kept relatively quiet. But the Princess and the royal line had a duty to, well, continue the line.

 

“Yuki, are you here, I need to – _what are you doing?_ ”

 

She froze as ice ran through her veins – they had been so _careful_ , never meeting in the same place, rarely ever in the palace… Sami even suggested they break it off for Yuki’s sake, for this reason exactly, but Yuki wouldn’t let fear break off their love.

 

“ _Yuki how dare you? You dishonor your family with this… this… deviant? Do you know how hard I’ve worked to prepare you to take the throne and you throw it all away?_ ”

 

“Mom, what… what are you talking about?”

 

“ _You know damn well what I’m talking about! You! With her!_ ”

 

Yuki knew the unspoken rules but didn’t see how this was an issue. Also, she was trying to cover herself and shield Sami, so her brain wasn’t firing on all pistons.

 

“Empress Yasuko this is all a misunderstanding, it was-”

 

Yasuko’s voice took on a deadly tone as she turned her burning gaze to the poor woman. “Silence. You are hereby banned from this palace. If I ever see you on these lands again you will be executed on the spot. No questions.”

 

Sami looked desperately to Yuki but made no comment as she gathered her things and _ran_ , leaving Yuki alone to face the wrath of her mother.

 

“ _Azumi’s sword_ , mother, you didn’t have to ban her! Where’s she gonna go, huh? You can’t just… do that!” By this time Yuki was fully clothed and was backing out of that room, into a hallway. The hallways, usually semi-full with hired help to keep the residence clean, were absolutely empty, meaning every word echoed.

 

“Do you not understand what you’re doing?”

 

A door opened across the hall. It was Kensuke, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. His midday nap would have to wait, it seemed.

 

“Would someone care to explain _why_ we are all yelling?”

 

“Yeah, Dad, just give me a ch-” Yuki pleaded, continuing to back down the hallway. _Just a few more rooms until I can arm myself. Against my own parents…_

 

“Don’t listen to her! Kensuke, I caught her, with that woman! I told you I’d suspected something between them, and I was right! _They were fu-_ ”

 

“NO, jeez, Mom, we weren’t – _Dad_ , it wasn’t like that, she hardly saw anything!” Well, it _was_ like that, but they were nowhere near anything too salacious.

 

“ _Oh, I saw everything!_ ”

 

“ **WILL YOU TWO QUIT YELLING FOR FIVE MINUTES?** ” While that actually did get Yasuko’s and Yuki’s attentions, it did only briefly, before Yuki took off for her room and Yasuko quickly followed. Yuki made it to her room first and quickly brandished her sword – in defense, of course.

 

“Please, _please_ give me a chance to explain!”

 

“Explain what,” her mom hissed, “your tryst with your teacher?”

 

“Okay wow you know she hasn’t been my teacher for years now but yes, I can explain that. I love-”

 

“Don’t you _dare_ say it.”

 

“Mom, I l-”

 

“I swear, Yuki, if you finish that sentence you will no longer be my daughter!”

 

“I love Sami! I’m in love with her! What on earth could be bad about that!?”

 

“Are you serious? Are you not aware of the honor and servitude you accepted by becoming a Dragon Warrior? Of the contract you signed with your blood when you accepted the challenges? The Dragons have entrusted us with a sacred duty to carry on the line, one you obviously aren’t fit to continue! You’ve broken the pact!”

 

By this time Yasuko was openly weeping, though Yuki was pretty certain they were tears of self-pity rather than actual sadness.

 

“Where is it written that I have to settle down with a man, huh? Can’t I just lay with a man for five minutes and do it that way?”

 

That was the wrong thing to say. Yasuko had devolved into raging fury and threw herself at her daughter, and if it weren’t for Yuki’s quick thinking, her mother would have found herself impaled. However, she ducked low, allowing her mother to get a grip on her back, but took the momentum from the duck and used it to roll herself over. Yasuko hit the ground hard, but that didn’t stop her. By the time she got up, Yuki had made it to the kitchen, only to find her exit blocked by her father.

 

“Sweetie, what’s going on? Is this true?” Unlike Yasuko, he only looked confused, rather than devastated and enraged.

 

“Yes, Dad, I’ve been sleeping with Sami, and I can explain later but Mom’s on the warpath so if you’ll let me _leave_!” Yuki had sheathed her sword and tried pushing her father out of the way, but he kept a firm grip on the doorway and stood firm.

 

“I think you should explain now. Who hurt you? Was it Koji? He’s been admiring you for a while, and I thought you two were getting along nicely.”

 

 _Which one was Koji? Tattoos or strange beard?_ “No, we’re great friends, best buddies, _please let me through_ -”

 

“There you are, you heathen.”

 

Yasuko had arrived.

 

Kensuke immediately felt the fear wash over his daughter and moved to step in front of her, but didn’t want to leave his spot in case Yuki ran again. But he was too late to defend her from the barrage Yasuko had planned. An ornate plate, engraved with the names of the Emperor and Empress three generations back, flew through the air and smashed straight into Yuki’s back. The sound of shattering porcelain was eerily loud. Yuki couldn’t believe… did her mom just…?

 

“Yasuko what the fuck? How dare you harm our daughter?”

 

“How dare she betray our lineage?”

 

Kensuke spun himself and Yuki around, effectively shielding her from any more of her mother’s assaults. He leaned down a bit to whisper in his daughter’s ear, “You run, go find somewhere safe, come back in a few hours, I’ll cool off your mother.”

 

“Thanks Dad,” she responded, and proceeded to flee her home.

 

* * *

 

 

“Damn it, Yasuko, what has come over you?”

 

“We can’t have someone like _her_ in this household! Do you have any idea how inappropriate and dishonorable her… _relationship_ is with that other woman? We cannot allow that in this kingdom under any circumstances! Yuki must pass on the line, and she can’t possibly do that with that… girl. That girl’s not even nobility, or wealthy, or even from this continent! The only reason I ever allowed her into my house is because she has a greater understanding of numbers than even Minori. I wanted her gone as soon as their tutoring was finished, but no, she was Yuki’s ‘best’ ‘friend’ and unfortunately we paid her enough for her to save up and afford to stay! Why couldn’t she have squandered her money like any other greedy peasant?”

 

“So, what, our teenage daughter having relations _like teenagers do_ is what’s upsetting you – Yasuko, she is not the first girl to fall for her best friend, and she’s certainly not the first woman to love another woman-”

 

“-that is not love-”

 

“Let me speak!” He bellowed, and it seemed that maybe Yasuko might have listened, had she not seen the shards of the plate on the ground. All at once, the realization of what she had done came back to her.

 

“Oh, Kensuke, I’m a failure! Maybe, if I’d been stricter, if I hadn’t let her associate with other people so much, if I’d been more traditional, maybe she wouldn’t have turned out like this!”

 

“Do you even hear yourself?”

 

“Yes, I can hear myself loud and clear! We did something wrong!” Kensuke observed that maybe Yasuko was too far gone, in too deep with denial to be reasoned with – he personally couldn’t see where most of her concerns lie. So what if Yuki’s having some fun? She’d find a man to continue the line eventually, just not right now. It wasn’t like Yasuko was the first woman _he’d_ ever been with… or the last…

 

“We did nothing wrong!”

 

“Yes, we did! She was supposed to be this, this, hero! A hero to save us! What hero would betray her people?”

 

“Dear, you’re not making sense. How about we sit down-”

 

“No way, not a chance!” Yasuko left the kitchen to go to her room and gather her riding equipment, “I am going to find that child and teach her respect, and I will bring her back to us, and she will become the proper woman she was supposed to be!”

 

“Yasuko, if you harm a hair on _my daughter’s_ body again, I swear that I will end the line of Meiyokens, starting with you!”

 

She froze, stunned that her husband would ever raise his voice to that degree.

 

“Kensuke, was that a threat on the Empress’ life?”

 

“It’s a _goddamn promise_ ,” he replied, then slammed their bedroom door and took off for… anywhere that wasn’t there.

 

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile, Yuki had made quite the distance, running off to a wooded area where she and Sami frequently chose to meet. She came here mostly for the emotional security, but also because it was a fairly difficult place to find and she was certain that her mother wasn’t going to find this place any time soon. _Oh, I hope Dad calms Mom down,_ she thought. _He seems to be handling this… a lot better._

 

“Yuki? Is that you? Oh, thank the Goddess it is!” Yuki turned to see the best possible face she could ever see right then, the tear-streaked face of Sami. She embraced the girl in a tight hug and stayed there for several long moments before she grabbed her face and kissed her deeply.

 

“Oh Sami you have no idea the shitstorm that just went down,” she said, “my mom’s, she’s, well… You saw.”

 

The darker woman grimaced, “Yeah, I remember. How bad was it?”

 

Yuki cringed, then muttered, “I don’t think I want to tell you.”

 

“Please, I can… I can take it. Tell me what she said. What she did – did she do something? Did she _hit_ you?”

 

With a groan, Yuki removed her shirt, revealing a large bruise from where the heavy plate hit her. “Remember the ceremonial plates we ate off of that one time and she got mad because they were decades old? Yeah, one broke on my back.”

 

“Oh, Yu, I’m so _sorry_! I’m so, so sorry, I knew we should have stopped-”

 

“No!” she exclaimed, taking Sami’s hands in her own, “don’t _ever_ say that! I refuse to apologize for something as pure as love.”

 

“But she hurt you!”

 

“But I’ve had worse. Much worse. I trained daily for years, getting far more and worse injuries than this! A bruise I can handle, but losing you… that would hurt worse than anything I could ever imagine.”

 

Sami stayed still for a moment, then chortled. “You sure know how to sweet-talk a woman.” Then they sat in heavy silence, just leaning on the other after one hell of a day.

 

Yuki had just drifted off into sleep when she heard Sami speak. “Sorry, what was that? I dozed off.”

 

“It’s okay, I would too. I was just thinking… What do we do now?”

 

Yuki didn’t know. They certainly couldn’t be together in the palace. Their relationship wouldn’t stand with her mother in charge, and Yuki had sworn herself to the kingdom with the Dragon Challenges. _Well I could… dethrone Mom… or give up my heritage… or give up Sami._

 

“I have no idea what we do. You can’t come back with me-”

 

“-figured that out-”

 

“-and I can’t just… leave, I am the princess!”

 

“Yeah, I’m well aware.”

 

“So what do I do?!” Yuki yelled to the skies. A squawk from a nearby startled bird was all the answer she got.”

 

“That’s it!” Sami suddenly exclaimed, “You become a bird, then all your troubles are gone!”

 

“Listen, I love you, but if you keep giving me terrible advice I fear where we stand in the future,” Yuki droned.

 

“No, you don’t.”

 

“No, I don’t,” she agreed.

 

“So now what? We got absolutely nowhere, and I hate that! That’s why numbers are so great, they always go somewhere, even if it’s to infinity.”

 

Sami looked at Yuki with questions in her eyes, begging for the other girl to finally solve some of them, but that wasn’t ever Yuki’s forte. She could fight wonderfully, but the problems… they were as rough as ever.

 

“Well, how about this? We spend the night here, and pretend that everything is okay, and before dawn I’ll go find my Dad, and hopefully he’ll have calmed Mom down enough, and I can talk to them both. Whatever you do, please try to stay out of sight of them? Or any castle guards?” Yuki suddenly realized that Sami’s place was way too close to safely return to without risking sighting by Yasuko, “Actually, do you even have a place to go?”

 

“I’ve got a couple friends near the border,” she replied, “I’m sure they’ll take me in, no problem.”

 

“Okay, so that’s tomorrow morning. Tomorrow evening, we meet back here and decide what to do from then?”

 

Sami nodded, “It’s a date.”

 

* * *

 

 

Yuki knew her father always spent the first light outside. He was a fan of the dawn, and definitely a morning person. She also knew his favorite places to be in the crisp morning air, and it only took her twenty minutes to locate him.

 

“Psst. Dad. Hey.”

 

“Yuki, ssh, where have you been? I expected you last night,” he whispered as forcefully as it’s possible to whisper.

 

“In a word – hiding,” she replied, “I didn’t want to do something I’d regret later.”

 

“Like attack your family?” he growled. “I cannot believe your mother did that to you. Do you know that she swore to me that if she could protect you from harm, she would do so in a heartbeat? And then goes on to, to…” he couldn’t finish the sentence before he embraced his daughter in a hug meant to convey just how apologetic he was for the actions taken against his daughter the day before.

 

“I don’t know what that woman has had done to her to make her think that ever harming you was acceptable, but I will not stand for it. I can’t understand what it is about Sami that you love, but I am not seeing that as a big enough reason to… banish you! Besides, you can have children later!”

 

“See, you get it! I mean, the kids would come way, _way_ later, and probably just be one, but you get it! Did you make Mom understand? Can I come back without fear of flying flatware?”

 

At this, Kensuke grew somber. “No. The _Empress_ ,” he sneered, “has decided that no daughter of hers should engage in lesbian behavior, and that unless you renounce Sami and banish her personally from the kingdom that you will not be allowed back. Ever.”

 

“What? Isn’t there anything you can do?”

 

He groaned, _no, there’s nothing._ “I stayed up nearly all night trying to find a law that could undo her word, but… She was obviously prepared. I can’t do anything about her, I’m sorry.”

 

“No, I’m sorry,” came the voice of Yasuko, “I’m sorry that my daughter couldn’t be the princess she was raised to be.”

 

“Mom, what-”

 

“You have two minutes to either denounce _that woman_ publicly or you pack your things and leave this place forever. There is no other option.”

 

“Mom!”

 

“Yasuko!”

 

“The clock is ticking, Yuki. Choose.”

 

Yuki gazed into the steely eyes of her mother, but there was no more compassion there. _Had there ever been?_

 

She had a choice to make. Did she want to sentence the woman she loved – more than any other person in the world – to death?

 

Or did she want to stay and rule the kingdom as the Dragon Warrior Empress, as it was her destiny and what she’d been training for?

 

Yuki knew she couldn’t do anything to hurt Sami. And she knew, as hard as it would be to leave her people, and as hard as it would be to drag their name through the mud, that she could never live with herself if she got the other girl killed.

 

“Find a new heir then, _Yasuko_ ,” she spat, “for I’ll never harm Sami.” And with that, she walked into the palace, collected her most prized possessions, and left.

 

Her dad stopped her on the way out. “I had a feeling you might choose that,” he said, “and I want you to know I’ll love you no matter what. I’ve arranged for safe transport out of the kingdom – it’ll take you to a new land, where you can start anew. You’ll be safe there.”

 

“Thank you so much, Dad,” she whispered, “what are you – I mean, what about the family line? What’ll happen?”

 

“Oh, I’m sure your mother will get another kid out of me,” he grumbled. “Don’t you worry about that, though – as long as a Meiyoken is alive, the line will stay strong.”

 

“Yeah, that’s something. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine, I can take care of myself.”

 

“Yes, you certainly can,” he laughed, “anyway, the transport will be here at dusk. I couldn’t get it sooner; I’m sorry.”

 

She remembered her meeting with Sami later and noted that that wasn’t much of a problem at all. “That’ll be okay, I’ll just hang out outside of town or something.”

 

“Okay. And write me? When you arrive? Use a fake name, something I’ll know is from you, and don’t leave a return address. Just… let me know you’re okay, okay?”

 

“Of course, Dad.”

 

“Alright, well you’d better get going. Don’t want her to see you. I love you so much, Yuki.”

 

“I love you too.”

 

And with one last farewell hug, Yuki left her home, the home she’d lived in for so many years. The home she honestly thought she’d never leave. _So many memories…_

 

* * *

 

 

“Sami, I’m leaving you.”

 

“What?!” the older girl gasped. “But… I thought… _why_ , Yuki?”

 

The two had indeed met up in their forest hideout, though much earlier than initially planned. It was real lucky that Sami instead chose to wait there, as Yuki had no idea where her friends’ house was and she couldn’t be here past dusk.

 

“No, I didn’t mean – wow, that’s a bad way to start a conversation. I mean… I’m leaving. I have to go. I’ve been officially banished. By the Empress. I’ve got all my things on me and all my money, and I’m going overseas, to a new land, or so my dad said. There’s a caravan organized for me and it leaves at dusk.”

 

“Wow, this is… a lot,” she replied, her eyes growing wide at the turn of events. “I thought you couldn’t leave, though?”

 

“True,” Yuki responded, “I can’t abandon the kingdom. I _can_ , however, be banished. And I am.”

 

“…I don’t know what to say to that.”

 

“I do. Come with us. Come with me to the new land. We can have a new life together, just the two of us!”

 

“…A-are you serious? You really gave everything up… for me?”

 

Yuki nodded, “Yes, and I’d do it again. What do you say?” she asked, holding out her arms.

 

“Yes! Of course, you idiot, of course I’ll go with you! Just let me grab my things-”

 

“We don’t really have the time,” Yuki interrupted, “it’s going to take us a while to get back, and your house is under heavy guard, there’s no way we can get to your place and make it out. I have enough money for the both of us, and clothing too… it’ll be a bit big on you, though.”

 

Sami shook her head, “Not an issue, let’s just… let’s just get out of this place.”

 

* * *

 

 

As Yuki was climbing onto the caravan, she heard a commotion coming from just outside.

 

“I saw her, in there, the princess’ corrupter! She’s got a 50,000 gold bounty and I’m gonna get it!”

 

“What’s going on-”

 

Before she could react, three large men and a rather large woman stormed the caravan. “She’s here, she’s here!” They yelled, reaching for Sami. She fought back, but having never trained in any real warriors’ arts, she couldn’t do much as the people picked her up and proceeded to remove her from the caravan.

 

“Sami, NO!” Yuki cried, reaching for her sword, but as she tried to pull it out, it snagged on some loose fibers and she felt herself get yanked to the ground. She quickly removed her sword sheath belt thingy and instead tried to fight off the attackers with her hands. If not for the sheer number of them, she might have succeeded, except that two of them blocked her way while the other two carried Sami (kicking and screaming) out of the caravan. Yuki saw Sami bite one of her captors and break free, but was quickly re-apprehended and injected with… something.

 

“No, stop! I order you to _stop_!” she yelled, all the while fighting off the two remaining attackers. She knocked one unconscious, but the other pulled a blade on her.

 

“You have no jurisdiction here, _Princess,_ ” he sneered, before going in for the kill.

 

“You obviously don’t know how to speak to royalty!” some young man shouted, running this attacker through with his own weapon, effectively preventing Yuki’s early demise. The dead attacker’s body fell on top of his former ally, leaving the path to Sami clear except for this young man.

 

“Let me go, I have to get to Sami!” she yelled, trying to force her way past him, but his skills were quite impressive. He blocked her every try and even forced her to sit back down.

 

“I’m sorry, Princess Yuki, I am under orders to protect you _no matter what_.”

 

“As your sworn Princess I _command you_ to let me go!”

 

“And your father, the Emperor, commanded me under no circumstances to let you leave this caravan! I apologize in advance,” he muttered as he pulled out a needle and injected Yuki with a similar substance as was given to Sami earlier, “this will only hurt a bit.”

 

“No,” she moaned, as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, “Sami…”

 

* * *

 

 

She woke up on a… ship? The rocking seemed like that described as a ship. Or so her dad said.

 

“Where… am I?” she groaned.

 

“You’re on the Sea Maiden, the largest luxury ship RSI has to offer. We’re about halfway to the new land. Are you comfortable?”

 

“…what? Where’s Sami?” As the memories flooded back, she jolted upright. “Where is she? We were supposed to leave together!”

 

“Who?” the man responded.

 

“We have to go back!” Yuki demanded. “I order this ship to turn around!”

 

“We… we can’t. The currents here are too strong to fight. We would have to dock, and even then, the route back to Vaisura would take months! My Princess, this is, to be quite honest, a one-way trip. Plus, you’re banned from the kingdom forever, remember?”

 

“But what about her? Sami?”

 

He seemed to realize who Yuki was talking about. “Oh, your friend?” He looked down at the ground, “I don’t think she’ll be okay. Those goons who took her bore the mark of Auldrog. Honestly… I would do my best to preserve her memory,” and with that, he left.

 

They arrived shortly after, Yuki having said nothing since that day. She thanked the man for keeping her safe, grabbed her belongings, and wandered off to begin a new life… alone, poor, and without her honor.


End file.
